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The aim of this experimental study was to clarify whether affective states with different arousal and valence levels influence the perceived funniness and aversiveness shown as a response to humor stimuli. We used the International Affective Picture System, IAPS (Lang, Peter J., Margaret M. Bradley & Bruce N. Cuthbert. 1999. International Affective Picture System (IAPS): Technical manual and affective ratings. Gainesville, FL: The Center for Research in Psychophysiology, University of Florida) and followed a mixed factorial design. Affective state differed between four groups: 1) neutral group; 2) negative valence-moderate arousal group; 3) positive valence-moderate arousal group; and 4) negative valence-high arousal group. We measured pre- and post-perceived funniness and aversiveness in response to humorous material. Participants were 80 psychology students who were randomly assigned to one of four induction conditions. The results showed that, regardless of the type of valence, affective states with moderate arousal levels did not affect humor appreciation. However, the perceived funniness response was significantly lower in the negative valence-high arousal group. Perceived aversiveness responses were not affected by valence or arousal level. Results are discussed in relation to several current theories on the role of affective state in humor appreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attentional difficulties are a core axis in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, establishing a consistent and detailed pattern of these neurocognitive alterations has not been an easy endeavour. Based on a dimensional approach to ADHD, the present study aims at comprehensively characterizing three key attentional domains: the three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive attention), two components of vigilance (executive and arousal vigilance), and distraction. To do so, we modified a single, fine‐grained task (the ANTI‐Vea) by adding irrelevant distractors. One hundred and twenty undergraduates completed three self‐reports of ADHD symptoms in childhood and adulthood and performed the ANTI‐Vea. Despite the low reliability of some ANTI‐Vea indexes, the task worked successfully. While ADHD symptoms in childhood were related to alerting network and arousal vigilance, symptoms in adulthood were linked to executive vigilance. No association between ADHD symptom severity and executive attention and distraction was found. In general, our hypotheses about the relationships between ADHD symptoms and attentional processes were partially supported. We discuss our findings according to ADHD theories and attention measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]